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Massachussetts Law 1642 & 1647
Washington in 1778 proposes law that will ensure 3 years of public education to all children.
-It is the states responsibility to ensure that education is happening and what is being taught.
- Religion and the bible was a major focus in schooling. Preparing the students to read/understand the bible. “to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of this country.”
-Law required that townships with 50 or more homes, that a teacher be hired through town funds. -
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826
Jefferson sought to weed out the genius’ from the rubbish. Didn’t think women could be geniuses. Blacks were also treated this way. Jefferson wanted a general diffusion of knowledge among men, regardless of status, as long as you are a white man. Jefferson believed education was central to democracy. You needed a smart people to be able to vote, make decisions, etc. -
Horace Mann 1796-1859
MOST IMPORTANT. Horace Mann was the leading advocate for school house conditions. He was a major proponet that the school house itself would affect the efficiency and success of education. Rode horseback form district to district reviewing the maintenance of each facility. He visited of 1000 schools in six years. Thought people took better care of their livestock than of their students. -
Common Schools
MOST IMPORTANT. Top 5 most important event:Common schools were established by Horace man and taught the same things as other schools, which gave each child the same opportunity for success.Common schools made no distinction between rich, poor, or gender. They were free. Funded by tax dollars. Only larger towns in New England were required to build schools. -
Sarah Roberts and Abolishing Segregation
Sarah was assigned to the Smith school (a black school), which was in terrible condition. No action was taken. Her father Benjamin Roberts did the unthinkable and tried to enroll his Sarah in a better school, a white school. Her application was denied because of her race. She was refused admission to many schools based on race. Roberts tried to sue the city. 1849 case reaches Supreme Court. Judge ruled against Roberts. 1859 law was finally passed banning segregation of schools in Massachusetts. -
The Impact of John Dewey 1859-1952
The school and society. Philosopher and father of progressive education. He believed that if schooling was wholly focused on the development of the child, then learning and education would be different, and better. Children learning by doing was something to exhibit to the public, to show the greatness of the school, its teachers, and society. Was a major catalyst to the success of the Progresive Reform Movement. -
The Gary Plan
A plan invented by William Wirt, superintendent of schools in Gary, Indiana. The idea was to create an atmosphere where hands-on, real-world application was at the center of all their tasks. They wanted to use every available space to the advancement of education. They had auto mechanics, animal husbandry, workshops, sewing, etc. Every practice that you could imagine was implemented to enable students when they left the school. They didn’t want the students to just sit on their butts and listen -
The Progressive Reform Movement 1890-1920
- Too many children were spending their time in drudgery, instead of in school. They advocated for state laws that would ban and enforce child labor laws. They felt the most important thing children could be doing was learning in school; preparing them for the real world. Made school attendance compulsory. Also, wanted to change the practice of education itself.
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Brown Vs. The Board of Education 1954
MOST IMPORTANT. Thurgood Marshall fought the Supreme Court on behalf of Linda Brown and other black children across the country. An interesting point is that they fought for equal facilities, and resources not necessarily for segregated schools. On May 17, 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the unanimous decision to desegregate schools, claiming that separate but equal facilities was not equal. Over the next few decades over 30,000 black teachers would be displaced. -
The Impact of the War on Poverty (LBJ's Legacy)
Late 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson’s effort to help impoverished farmers and their children was emphasized during his presidency. Johnson believed that an equal chance at education meant an equal chance at life. He created many federally funded programs to support impoverished children; for example low cost college loans. Civil Rights Act of 1964 said that schools could lose their funding if they failed to desegregate their schools. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1965
Increased and incentivized desegregating schools. In its first four years it provided 4 billion dollars to aid disadvantaged students. It focused on equality across and throughout the board. This seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in the south, the catalyst to southern states opening up its doors to all races. Money goes a long way. -
The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement 1948-1971
The Civil Rights movement was making steady gains throughout the decades. Sit-ins, protests, and persistence, and a belief in the constitution played a major role in the success that blacks faced. Although, they were experiencing slow but steady success, whites strongly resisted integration. Black children were the ones who were really at the forefront of the movement. -
A Nation at Risk Report, 1983
Commissioned by the Board of Education. Stated that the condition of education was placing the Nation at risk. American education is being undermined by “a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future”. The state of education at the time just wasn’t meeting the standards of the global economy. They felt that we weren’t competing on a global scale educationally. This put us in a vulnerable state. They blame education for everything. -
The Standards Movement
MOST IMPORTANT. Reagan believed that the school system didn’t need vast amount of money to better education, they just needed a few simple reforms. A Nation at Risk perpetuated the idea of meeting standards and focusing on key topics. It also introduced the new topic of Computer Science. It pushed for a longer school day and more homework. In other words, they cracked down on students. Grade policies to participate in extracurricular activities. -
The Growth of Standardized Testing, 1980's
High stakes testing or the creation of standardized testing emerged during the standards movement. In 1983-84 they created higher graduation requirements. In the same period, the annual cost for Standardized Testing was $500 million dollars nationwide. However, hundreds of inter-city schools were in dire need for updates to resources and facilities. Per pupil funding was lower than in any of the suburbs. Funding came from testing results. Schools were ranked by test results. -
No Child Left Behind Act 2001 MOST IMPORTANT
Established a standard, via tests, that all students must meet or exceed. "The major focus of No Child Left Behind is to close student achievement gaps by providing all children with a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education." The government states that there are four main pillars to the bill, which are: accountability, flexability, research-based education, and parent options. Many believe that there are major flaws with the bill in regards to testing.
